Attention, Media and Fuel Efficiency

Stefan Thoenes and Timo Gores
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Timo Gores: Energiewirtschaftliches Institut an der Universitaet zu Koeln

No 2012-11, EWI Working Papers from Energiewirtschaftliches Institut an der Universitaet zu Koeln (EWI)

Abstract: This study examines attention effects in the market for hybrid vehicles. We show that local media coverage, gasoline price changes and unprecedented record gasoline prices have a significant causal impact on the consumers’ attention. As attention is not directly observable, we analyze online search behavior as a proxy for the revealed consumer attention. Our study is based on weekly panel data of local newspaper coverage, gasoline prices and Google search trends for 19 metropolitan areas in the US. Additionally, we use monthly state-level panel data to show that the adoption rate of the hybrid vehicle technology is robustly related to our measure of attention.

Keywords: consumer behavior; attention; media; gasoline price; energy efficiency; hybrid vehicle (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D12 D83 L62 Q41 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 38 pages
Date: 2012-09-20
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ene and nep-tre
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ris:ewikln:2012_011

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